Longmont’s Resilient St. Vrain Project

A major flood event in September 2013 severely impacted Longmont, especially along the St. Vrain Creek; this flooding affected many properties within and outside the floodplain.

Photo from Blake Hendricks and found on visitlongmont.org

This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

A major flood event in September 2013 severely impacted Longmont, especially along the St. Vrain Creek; this flooding affected many properties within and outside the floodplain. From the disaster comes the opportunity to protect the community by reducing the size of the floodplain through Longmont and improving the St. Vrain Creek’s resilience for future flooding, while also restoring the valuable community asset of the St. Vrain Greenway.

The St. Vrain Greenway between County Line Trailhead and the Sandstone Ranch Visitors Center reopened in mid-June, once again providing a wonderful space to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Resilient St. Vrain efforts here focused on:

restoring the flood-damaged greenway
stabilizing creek banks to protect trails, access roads and infrastructure from further creek damage

helping nature re-establish vegetation and wetlands habitat for fish and wildlife. Nearly 200,000 native plants were added to the area. View a list of species planted through the Resilient St. Vrain project.

Work has been completed to widen and improve the St. Vrain Creek channel between Main Street and Left Hand Creek. This area is now better able to help protect people, property and infrastructure during future flooding. The flood-damaged trails of the St. Vrain Greenway also have been restored and are open once again. Area wildlife, including several species of birds and fish, have been spotted along the creek. Visitors are asked to stay on the trails to allow vegetation in newly planted areas to take hold and to respect orange safety fences.

Next up is construction on Dickens Farm Nature Area, a 52-acre interactive nature site that will have a discovery area, dirt bike skills track, and a series of small rock falls that will encourage playing and splashing in the creek. Recreation spaces will welcome picnickers and those looking to relax in the great outdoors. Read more about Dickens here. The St. Vrain Creek waterway remains closed to users until Dickens Farm Nature Area construction is completed (currently planned for spring 2019).

Resilient St. Vrain efforts also moves upstream, west of Main Street to just past the South Pratt Parkway Bridge (Bridge replacement is already underway here.) Work here began in early August with site clearing and selected tree removals. Learn the ways this project replaces trees throughout the community.